Alabama Football: 2019 season week 4 preview Southern Miss

In week four of the 2019 season, Alabama football welcomes the CUSA’s probable top team for 2019, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.

Alabama football fans wanting to learn more about the 2019 Southern Miss Golden Eagles – you are going to have to wait a bit or skip down to the end of this post. Pardon the digression, but we (this writer and the University of Alabama) go back aways with USM. The history is worth at least a few words.

Alabama football oldsters may remember Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant never called USM, Southern Mississippi. Instead, he always referred to the school as Mississippi Southern. Back when Bryant played for the Crimson Tide, what has become USM was named Mississippi State Teachers College. In 1940, the school changed its name to Mississippi Southern. In 1962, the named was changed to Southern Miss but by then it was permanently imprinted in Bryant’s brain as Mississippi Southern.

Out of respect for Bryant, USM will always be Mississippi Southern in some old Alabama football hearts.

The two schools have played 43 times. Going back to the Bryant era, USM has won only three of the contests. Overall the record is 36-5-2 in favor the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Don’t let the record fool you. There have been some crushing defeats for the Crimson Tide. In November 1982, a USM team led by quarterback, Reggie Collier came to Tuscaloosa and effectively ended Bear Bryant’s career.

Rather than sulking away from the stadium in disgust after the defeat, this fan focused his attention on Bryant as he left the field. Having watched Bryant after many games, he was either staring straight ahead or had his eyes directed to the ground. From the stands that day, I noticed Bryant’s head was up, clearly looking all around the stadium like he knew it would be his last view as the Alabama football coach.

The 39-28 loss to USM ended a 57-game winning streak in Tuscaloosa. Bryant said this after the loss,

"It’s not a very good feeling. I took a long look back as we walked off. We haven’t had this experience too many times and I’m thankful for that."

Less than two months and two weeks later, Paul Bryant passed away.

Of minor import, compared to the history recounted above, was the 2000 game. USM butt-kicked the Crimson Tide from one of the field to the other, beating a punch-less, Mike Dubose led Crimson Tide team, 21-0.

Two more games stand out. One was the 1990 loss to USM, led by the even then, strong-armed QB, Brett Favre. The other one is forever imprinted in Crimson Tide memories.

For any Alabama football fans left reading after our history lesson, let’s consider USM in 2019. The Golden Eagles are a respectable football team. They are comparable in the upcoming season to Kansas State, Duke, South Florida and Houston. The Golden Eagles are probably the best team in the CUSA.

Can USM replicate a 1982 upset in Bryant-Denny in 2019? That is not likely, but if USM somehow does, this seasoned Alabama football fan could not view the Golden Eagles harshly. We doubt Bryant would want us to disrespect Mississippi Southern.